Cherries and Ramen
by 5E6014
Summary: Sakura is a long time friend of Naruto and has always been close to him, but would never admit that she wants to be closer. But, after a run-in with a strange person, will she ever get that chance? NarutoxSakura


Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I do own however all locations contained in () and characters/items followed by an *.

Note: This story is based off of the Shippuuden series. If you have not read up to the latest chapter of the manga I recommend you do so.

**Chapter 1: Heartbroken**

It was sunset when I was just starting home. The empty alleyways and buildings were bathed in an erie red glow from the sun. I remember feeling horrible, sad....terrified even. I also remember the strange feeling of someone behind me watching and laughing the entire way. My feet were heavy and carried me home slowly, my heart dragging at my heels.

"Sakura!" said my mother as I walked in, "Dinner's ready, we're having....honey, is something wrong?" Apparently my face didn't have on it's usual cheery disposition. That and my mom could always see past my mask and see how I was really feeling, so I didn't bother hiding it. Well, I didn't hide how I felt but I did hide what was wrong.

"I'm not hungry mom, thanks though." And with that I walked up the stairs and went to my room. I shut the door behind me, trudged over to my bed and fell on it. It seemed that as soon as I did my face burried in my pillow and the tears began to flow....

* * *

The sun shone through my blinds and woke me, just as I usually awoke in the morning. And, as usual, I got ready and went down stairs. The only difference was that it was an hour later than when I normally got up and my mother hadn't prepared breakfast for me, knowing full well I wouldn't be up to it. I passed by the kitchen and gave her a weak smile, telling her I'd be okay. Then, I went out the door and made my way to Team 7's training grounds, my training grounds.

I arrived and found that everyone else had already shone up, even Kakashi was there. He gave me a very quizzical look, it wasn't like me to be late....especially this late. I saw Sasuke leaning against the rail of the bridge with an annoyed look on his face. Then I spotted Naruto, his foxy grin plastered on his face, and it struck me through the heart like a dagger.

"Oy! Sakura-chan! Did your alarm not go off or something?" Naruto asked with a bit of concern, but not enough to wipe his smile away. I knew all too well that he was happy to see me.

"Yeah, my clock went dead in the middle of the night," I lied, hoping that they woudln't persue the subject. I lucked out as they just accepted it and Kakashi began our briefing for the day.

"Well, we have a busy day of training today! Let's get to it!" said our master as he closed his book he was obsessed with. He smiled and tilted his head slightly, the signal that our training wouldn't be light.

'Ugh, why can't I get a break....' I prepared for his explanation of our workout.

"Today you'll be running through an obstacle course I made specially for you!" His eye smile made me nervous, and the fact that it was an obstacle course. "First you'll begin my running across the clearing beyond the bridge and then going over the river. Then you'll have to jump through the designated trees and find you way to the end. When you reach the end of the forest you'll have to go through a small house with an old granny." He smiled and held out his hand, signaling us to begin.

"Aw! That's it? Why can't we have something harder?" complained Naruto. He probably didn't realize that it was one of Kakashi's obstacle courses with traps and illusions. Sasuke on the other hand just looked ahead and got ready to run.

'Fine, I'll do it,' I thought to myself, preparing the best I could. Then, as if we all knew when, took off towards the clearing.

* * *

"Unnn...."

"Hey, Sakura-chan, are you okay?"

"Unnn...." I groaned, barely aware of my surroundings. Then I felt a light shaking of two hands on my shoulders.

"Hey, Sakura-chan, Sakura-chaaaan!" I opened my eyes to see a worried blonde ninja. "You okay? That was a nasty hit from that log."

'Oh yeah....'

**I'd passed the clearing which had been full of land mines and flying arrows. Then I jumped into the first tree and began to leap from branch to branch. I dodged a few kunai and shuriken traps, then saw Naruto appear beside me. He smiled with happiness at the challenge and looked over at me for a second. I couldn't stop it, the pain just shot through me. I was stunned, fear and panic clutching my chest making it hard to breath. I began to sweat and then...."Sakura-chan! Look out for the trap!"**

"The swinging log hit me...." I mumbled as I lay in Naruto's arms. And then it hit me, 'I'm being held by Naruto....' A tear began to come from my eye, but I quickly blinked it away.

"Sakura, I see you managed to get yourself in a bind today," said Kakashi as he walked up to us. He had a worried expression as he crouched next to me. "Let's get you to the hospital to check you out. Naruto, you go ahead and finish the course for today." He gently picked me up and carried me on his back. I saw Naruto looking at me with sad eyes before reluctantly jumping away.

I didn't remember much of the trip to the hospital as I was so out of it. All I remember was being in the forest and then lieing on the hospital bed with sensai sitting next to me reading his book. Without so much as looking up he began our conversation.

"What's going on. You're not a student anymore, that was an easy trap to avoid." He cleverly hid the concern in his voice and spoke to me like a sensai should. But that's not what I wanted.

"K-Kakashi-sensai, I-" I took a deep breath before sitting up and continueing. "I'm sorry for what happened, I was distracted for a moment." I looked down at the bed sheet and gripped it in my hand.

"You were distracted. By what?" his voice peirced me, probing for the answer. He found it.

I tried to force back the tears that were beginning to flow forth. "Kakashi, I think that Naruto is going to die." I placed my face in my hands as I sobbed. I then felt his hand on my back.

"It's okay Sakura, nothing bad is going to happen to Naruto. He's tough and-" But he didn't finish.

"Naruto's going to die! And it's going to be because of me!" I screamed. I pulled my knees up to my chest and tried harder to stop the tears. But it wasn't working.

"Sakura, why do you believe this?" Kakashi asked trying to comfort me. He very carefully sat next to me and rubbed my back. He was worried for two reasons. One, I was upset beyond normal and two, someone had reason to believe that one of his students was going to die.

"Because, I was told by a Fate."

**End**

Next chapter: Fate, a Curious Thing


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